Will an ‘America First’ Trade Policy Make America Great Again?

The research paper’s topic is “Will an ‘America First’ Trade Policy Make America Great Again?”; it is your responsibility to ensure that your topic meets the criteria for analysis of international trade and finance. Background information, as well as, discussion and history of your research topic should be minimal; definitions are not to be included. 

Your paper should explain, in dollars or a country’s currency, not percentages, what profits/losses occurred related to your topic, what happened economically because of your topic, what your topic would contribute to the U.S. and/or other affected countries’ economies. Suggested: your topic’s effect plus or minus on each affected countries’ GDP, balance of payments, labor costs, exports/imports, etc.

Your paper’s focus must be your topic and its positive and/or negative international economic impact expressed in dollars or a country’s currency. Once again, the total focus of your paper must be quantitative analysis (currency) and not a qualitative presentation of your topic.

NOTE: Expressing comparisons as a percentage are ambiguous without a base value because the amount of change can be greater with a small percentage change versus a very large percentage change. Example:

• If a country’s GDP increase 500% but the GDP base value is only 100, their GDP is 500.
• If a country’s GDP increases 4% but the base value is 1 million, their GDP is 1,040,000.

Disparity in socio-economic factors must be addressed as an economic variable expressed in dollars or the affected counties’ currency, not discussed as a historical, political, or social problem.

Example 1:

Developed nations view child labor or sweatshops as producing goods and services very cheaply at the expense of exploited laborers. These practices may be permitted or condoned by a government. Lower wages affect international competition since a company operating factories in these countries may experience higher profits. (Price *Quantity = Revenue; and, Revenue – costs (labor being a cost) = Profit). Address the economic factors, not the social implications.

Example #2:

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA): Do not write about political process/discontent implementing this agreement. Do not write about projections, possible labor market shifts, etc. Address unemployment in the US directly attributed to companies moving to Mexico, lost taxes, and current economic impact to US and other countries because of NAFTA.

International Trade Research Paper

Instructions:

• Use of Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) is required.
• Text of your paper (not including title page, abstract, and bibliography) should be approximately 1500 words – no less than 1,400 words and no more than 1,700 words.
  • Times New Roman, size 12 font (title can be larger)
  • Standard margins
  • Double-spaced
• Paper must contain your name:
  • Research paper submitted without author’s name are not graded.
  • Students not submitting a Research Paper (includes papers with no name) receive a zero
• Title page optional
• Bibliography is required; use either MLA or APA format.
  • MLA:
  • APA:
• At least two refereed journal articles are required and included within your citations. (I suggest using Google Scholar to search for articles in refereed journals.)
• Cited material cannot exceed 15% of the total word count.
• Use of third-person format is required. (No “I” or “you”)
• No table of contents
• Abstract optional and does not count as part of the paper’s required word count. If you choose to include an abstract, it should be no longer than 150 words.

Rubric:

I take off 10 percentage points for each day the paper is past due.

I use Turnitin. If I detect any hint of plagiarism, you will receive a 0%.

Here are some suggestions that may be of assistance with the research paper.

1. Start with the premise of your paper, e.g., the value of the US dollar helped US exports because it experienced less fluctuation from 2004 through 2014 than the Euro.
2. Reword your premise to formulate an introduction.
3. Identify 3 or 4 supporting points that will prove your premise.  These supporting points become paragraphs and are incorporated in the introduction.
   • Do Not provide definitions, background, or superfluous information
   • Focus of your paper must be the economic premise (title) of your paper.
4. Develop the supporting points into supporting paragraphs.
5. Write your conclusion stating how you proved the premise of your paper
6. Provide bibliography; ensure paper is spell checked, proofread, properly formatted, and original work.
7. Submit per the syllabus

Last Updated on August 29, 2023